Sum 41 vocalist Deryck Whibley‘s new memoir Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven and Hell is out today (10/8) via Gallery Books, and in it, he says he was sexually and verbally abused by the band’s former manager, Greig Nori, starting when he was 16 and Nori was 34. Whibley discussed the allegations with the Los Angeles Times just ahead of the book’s release; he writes in the book that Nori, frontman of Treble Charger, had been a hero of his, and he’d snuck backstage at one of their shows, and later been given his first drink by Nori. “Greig had one requirement to be our manager — he wanted total control,” Whibley writes. “We couldn’t talk to anyone but him, because the music business is ‘full of snakes and liars’ and he was the only person we could trust.”
Whibley writes that Nori later “passionately” kissed him in a bathroom stall at a rave when he was 18, and that while he hadn’t thought of Nori like that previously, Nori tried to convince Whibley that it was worth continuing to explore because “so many of my rock star idols were queer. … Most people are bisexual; they’re just too afraid to admit it.” Whibley writes that when he later tried to end their physical relationship, Nori called him homophobic and said that Whibley “owed” him for his help with Sum 41, and that he continued to pressure Whibley for sexual encounters. He never discussed this, he told The Times, until he started dating Avril Lavigne in 2004, who he writes told him, “That’s abuse! He sexually abused you.”
Whibley writes that Nori stopped initiating physical encounters when a mutual friend learned what was happening, but that the psychological and verbal abuse got worse; he says that Nori would alternate between praising him, berating him, and pitting the rest of the band against him. Whibley also says that Nori insisted upon being credited as a songwriter on most Sum 41 songs; he later successfully sued Nori over this. He and the band fired Nori in 2005, after the album cycle for Chuck.
Whibley told the Times that he hasn’t told his bandmates about the allegations, or warned Nori that they’d be in the book; Nori didn’t respond to the Times‘ request for comment. “You know, I don’t owe him anything,” Whibley told the Times. “I’ve had an inner battle, like, ‘Why do I want to tell him? Because I feel like I’m supposed to? Because he still has this thing over me?’ He controlled everything in my life, but even the rest of the guys through the band. We were all under his wing. Me more, obviously. But he was such a controlling person.”
Whibley also told the Times that turning 35 9 years ago helped him realize the power imbalance between he and Nori when they’d met. “It all became so clear,” he said. “Then about a year later, the Me Too thing started happening. I started hearing stories of grooming, and it all started to make sense.”
Update: responding to a phone call from The Globe and Mail, Nori said he had not seen the book or heard the allegations prior to the recent headlines, and he said, “These are false allegations.”
Update 2: Whibley has responded to Nori’s claim that the allegations are false in a new video, saying, “Greig Nori, if you think I’m a liar, there’s only one way to settle this: under oath, in front of a judge, in front of a jury. Any time you want, I’m ready. Whenever you are.”
So, I guess it has come to this… pic.twitter.com/FZEpSgvpTX
— Sum 41 (@Sum41) October 15, 2024
Whibley begins a brief book tour for Walking Disaster at Jersey City’s White Eagle Hall today (10/8), and Sum 41’s final tour resumes later this month, wrapping up with a Canadian run in January of 2025 with Gob and PUP. See all dates below.
DERYCK WHIBLEY: 2024 BOOK TOUR DATES
Tuesday, October 8 White Eagle Hall – Jersey City, NJ
Moderator: Kevan Kenney, MTV and Amazon Music On-Air Host
Wednesday, October 9 WBUR CitySpace – Boston, MA
Moderator: Amory Sivertson, WBUR Senior Producer and Host of Beyond All Repair and Endless Thread.
Thursday, October 10 The Grammy Museum – Los Angeles, CA
Moderator: Matt Pinfield, Westwood One Radio/TV Host
Friday, October 11 Barnes & Noble – Las Vegas, NV
*signing only
SUM 41: 2024-2025 TOUR DATES
Oct 21 Mon Brabanthallen Ak ‘s-hertogenbosch, Netherlands ~
Oct 23 Wed ING Arena Bruxelles, Belgium ~
Oct 24 Thu Zenith Caen The Bronx Caen, France ~
Oct 26 Sat OVO Hydro Glasgow, United Kingdom ~
Oct 26 Sat First Direct Arena Leeds, United Kingdom ~
Oct 27 Sun OVO Hydro Glasgow, United Kingdom
Oct 28 Mon Co-op Arena Manchester, United Kingdom ~
Oct 30 Wed Motorpoint Arena Nottingham, United Kingdom ~
Oct 31 Thu OVO Arena Wembley London, United Kingdom ~
Nov 2 Sat Utilita Arena Cardiff Cardiff, United Kingdom ~
Nov 4 Mon Uber Greenlight Berlin Berlin, Germany
Nov 5 Tue Barclays Arena Hamburg, Germany
Nov 6 Wed Westfalenhalle Dortmund, Germany
Nov 8 Fri Arena Leipzig Leipzig, Germany
Nov 9 Sat Atlas Arena Łódź, Poland %
Nov 10 Sun O2 Arena Prague, Czech Republic %
Nov 12 Tue Budapest Aréna Budapest, Hungary %
Nov 13 Wed Stadthalle Vienna, Austria %
Nov 14 Thu Olympiahalle München, Germany %
Nov 16 Sat Unipol arena Neck Deep Bologna, Italy %
Nov 17 Sun Pallazzo Dello Sport Roma, Italy %
Nov 19 Tue WiZink Center Madrid, Spain
Nov 20 Wed Palau Sant Jordi Barcelona, Spain
Nov 21 Thu Geneva Arena Genève, Switzerland %
Nov 23 Sat Paris La Défense Arena Nanterre, France
Dec 6 Fri Good Things Festival Melbourne, Australia #
Dec 7 Sat Good Things Festival Paddington, Australia #
Dec 8 Sun Good Things Festival Brisbane, Australia #
Jan 10 Fri Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre Victoria, BC, Canada +^
Jan 11 Sat Rogers Arena Vancouver, BC, Canada +^
Jan 13 Mon Prospera Place Kelowna, BC, Canada +^
Jan 16 Thu Scotiabank Saddledome Calgary, AB, Canada +^
Jan 17 Fri Rogers Place Edmonton, AB, Canada +^
Jan 18 Sat Sasktel Centre Saskatoon, SK, Canada +^
Jan 20 Mon Canada Life Centre Winnipeg, MB, Canada +^
Jan 23 Thu Meridian Centre St. Catharines, ON, Canada +^
Jan 24 Fri Canadian Tire Centre Ottawa, ON, Canada +^
Jan 25 Sat Place Bell Laval, QC, Canada +^
Jan 27 Mon Budweiser Gardens London, ON, Canada +^
Jan 28 Tue Scotiabank Arena Toronto, ON, Canada +^
Jan 30 Thu Scotiabank Arena Toronto, ON, Canada +^
~ with The Bronx
% with Neck Deep
# with Korn
+ with PUP
^ with Gob